218.108—Renewal of Letters of Authorization and adaptive management.
(a)
A Letter of Authorization issued under § 216.106 and § 218.107 of this chapter for the activity identified in § 218.100(c) will be renewed annually upon:
(1)
Notification to NMFS that the activity described in the application submitted under § 218.206 will be undertaken and that there will not be a substantial modification to the described work, mitigation or monitoring undertaken during the upcoming 12 months;
(2)
Receipt of the monitoring reports and notifications within the timeframes indicated in the previous LOA; and
(3)
A determination by NMFS that the mitigation, monitoring and reporting measures required under § 218.104 and the Letter of Authorization issued under §§ 216.106 and 218.107 of this chapter, were undertaken and will be undertaken during the upcoming annual period of validity of a renewed Letter of Authorization.
(b)
If a request for a renewal of a Letter of Authorization issued under §§ 216.106 and 218.208 indicates that a substantial modification, as determined by NMFS, to the described work, mitigation or monitoring undertaken during the upcoming season will occur, NMFS will provide the public a period of 30 days for review and comment on the request.
(c)
A notice of issuance or denial of a renewal of a Letter of Authorization will be published in the Federal Register.
(d) Adaptive Management.
NMFS may modify or augment the existing mitigation or monitoring measures (after consulting with the Navy regarding the practicability of the modifications) if doing so creates a reasonable likelihood of more effectively accomplishing the goals of mitigation and monitoring set forth in the preamble of these regulations. Below are some of the possible sources of new data that could contribute to the decision to modify the mitigation or monitoring measures:
(1)
Results from the Navy's monitoring from the previous year (either from the MIRC Study Area or other locations).
(3)
Compiled results of Navy funded research and development (R&D) studies (presented pursuant to the Integrated Comprehensive Monitoring Plan).
(4)
Results from specific stranding investigations (either from the MIRC Study Area or other locations, and involving coincident MFAS/HFAS or explosives training or not involving coincident use).
(7)
Any information which reveals that marine mammals may have been taken in a manner, extent or number not anticipated by these regulations or subsequent Letters of Authorization.